Great Things God Wants Us to See

The Gospel of John

John 12:17-26

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - May 24, 2017

(Revised December 13, 2019)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to John 12:12. Last week, we looked at the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. It was a very public entrance with strong visual testimony that Jesus was the promised King who was coming to His people in peace. The well-known sign that the Lord came in peace was the donkey Jesus rode into the city. By riding on that donkey, Jesus was also deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of the coming Messiah in Zechariah 9:9.

*It was just a few days before the cross, and we read about the Lord's entry starting in vs. 12:

12. The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13. took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!''

14. Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

15. Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.''

16. His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

17. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.

18. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.

19. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!''

*That's how it seemed to them on Palm Sunday. But just a few days later a mob of those same people would be crying out for the Lord's crucifixion. And even the Lord's closest followers would be scattered. Jesus told them about that on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26:31 Jesus said, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'"

*But in tonight's Scripture, we are still a few days before the cross, and we will read about some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. Those Greeks wanted to see Jesus in an up close and personal kind of way, and God wants us to see some very important things in their story. Please think about that, as we read vs. 17-26.

INTRODUCTION:

*I've seen some great things in my life. On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m. I was standing in front of the TV with my dad, and there we watched Neil Armstrong take man's first step on the moon. Over 500 million other people were watching when Neil climbed down the ladder and said, "That's one small step for man. -- One giant leap for mankind." (1)

*That was a great thing to see, but I've seen much greater things than that! In 1984, I saw my 68-year-old mother receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. I also got to see all of my children put their trust in the Lord.

*I have seen all kinds of great things in my life, but those Greeks wanted to see the greatest thing anybody ever can see. They wanted to see Jesus! And God wants us to see some great things in their story.

1. FIRST: HE WANTS US TO SEE THE ESSENTIAL DESIRES IN THIS SCRIPTURE.

[1] SO THINK ABOUT THE GREEKS' DESIRE TO SEE JESUS.

*Everybody needs to have the same kind of heartfelt desire they had in vs. 20-21: "Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.'''

*John Phillips helped us understand the scene: "These Greeks were not Jews. They were Gentiles, but they had come to the feast of Passover because they believed in the Old Testament Scriptures, and they had come to worship God.

*Since these Greeks had come to the feast, they were probably in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and they had seen the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem."

*They must have also heard a lot about Jesus, because vs. 17-19 tell us that:

17. The people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.

18. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.

19. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!''

*These Greeks had heard a lot about Jesus, enough to know that Philip was one of the Lord's closest followers, and that's one of the reasons why they approached Philip with their question. It also helped that he had a Greek name.

*On top of that, John Phillips noted that a few days had possibly gone by since Palm Sunday. By this time, the Lord might have cleansed the moneychangers from the Court of the Gentiles. Mark 11:15-17 gives this report:

15. So they came to Jerusalem. And Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves.

16. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple.

17. Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'''

*All of that shady business had taken place in the Temple's Court of the Gentiles. That was as far as these Greeks could go in the Temple. And the Lord's cleansing of the Court of the Gentiles might have shown the Greeks that Jesus cared about them too. (2)

*So in vs. 21, they politely pleaded with Philip, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus.'' It was the greatest desire of their hearts, and it ought to be the greatest desire of our hearts too! Nothing in this world could ever be more important than seeing Jesus Christ!

*And we don't see the Lord physically right now, but by faith, we can surely see Jesus with the eyes of our soul. That’s why Hebrews 2:9 tells Christians: "We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."

*Christians: We can spiritually see Jesus! -- And getting our eyes on Him puts a new perspective on everything else. I saw a great example of this truth on a 1997 mission trip to Ukraine. We were on a small tourist ship traveling down the Dneiper River. We witnessed, gave testimonies and preached in almost every city along the way. We were on the streets, in parks, or sometimes in a tent the local Christians set up near apartment buildings. The praise music always drew a crowd.

*Sometimes we also met in local churches as we did in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. The Lord had done a tremendous work in that city. Three former drug dealers had been wonderfully saved by Jesus, and they were called by God to start churches in the city. We had an evening service in one of those churches, and the next day about 20 of the young adults came on board for fellowship and food with us. We met on the deck of the ship.

*You must understand that back then those people were very poor. The average income was $50 a month when you got paid, and lots of months they didn't get paid. One of our interpreters was a high school teacher who hadn't been paid for 6 months.

*The people of Ukraine were poor. But there on the deck of that ship, those young Christians stood singing with all their hearts: "Give thanks to the Lord above. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks, because He's given Jesus Christ His Son. And now, let the weak say, 'I am strong!' Let the poor say, 'I am rich! Because of what the Lord has done for us.' -- Give thanks." (3)

*Even though they were very poor, those young people could sing that song with joy, because their eyes were on the Lord. They were seeing Jesus, and that should be one of the greatest desires in our lives!

[2] THE GREEKS' DESIRE WAS TO SEE JESUS. BUT DON'T MISS THE DISCIPLES' GREAT DESIRE.

*In vs. 22, the disciples’ desire was to help other people see Jesus. Their great desire was to bring other people to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so vs. 22 says, "Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus."

*By this time, Philip and Andrew had been following Jesus for three years. No wonder they were trying to bring people to Jesus! They were spiritually fishing for men, just like the Lord said they would do. Remember what Jesus told Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4:19: "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.''

*That’s exactly what Philip and Andrew tried to do here. They were fishing for men. Now, sometimes the fish will jump in your lap like these Greeks did here. More often, it’s a matter of prayer, persistence and patience. But one of the greatest desires we can ever have is to bring more people to Jesus.

2. SO GOD WANTS US TO SEE THE ESSENTIAL DESIRES IN THIS SCRIPTURE. HE ALSO WANTS US TO SEE THE ESSENTIAL DEATHS.

[1] AND THE GREATEST DEATH OF ALL IS THE DEATH OF OUR SAVIOR.

*When Andrew and Philip told Jesus about the Greeks, the Lord immediately began to talk about His death. In vs. 23-24 "Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.'"

*It almost sounds like Jesus was giving these Greeks the brush-off. But we have to remember that here in John’s Gospel, we are in the last few days before the cross. That must be why the Lord zeroed in on the only thing that could help those Greeks see Him forever, and that was His death on the cross. In vs. 24, Jesus focused on the cross and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."

[A] NOTICE HERE THAT THE LORD'S DEATH WAS A SUBSTITUTE FOR US.

*Jesus Christ was that grain of wheat. He died for us. He took our place. He paid the price for our sins. Jesus was the only person who could die for our sins because He had no sins of His own. And dying for the sins of the world was the hardest thing that He could ever do, but Jesus did die for us! Our risen Savior loves us so much that He was willing to die for us.

[B] THE LORD'S DEATH WAS A SUBSTITUTE FOR US. IT WAS ALSO SUPERNATURAL.

*How could one man die for all the sins of the world? -- Only if He wasn’t just a man. And Jesus Christ was surely a man, but from all eternity past, He was always more than a man. Jesus Christ is and always has been the eternal Son of God. That’s why death could never keep Jesus in the grave.

[C] THE LORD'S DEATH WAS A SUPERNATURAL. AND IT WAS SUFFICIENT!

*Jesus is all we need! His death paid the price for all of our sins. Our Risen Savior has already brought forth much fruitful grain. And He is going to bring forth much more fruit, both in our world and in our lives!

[2] GOD WANTS US TO SEE THE DEATH OF OUR SAVIOR. HE ALSO WANTS US TO SEE THE DEATH OF OUR SELF.

*In vs. 24-25, Jesus tells us:

24. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

25. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

*We must understand that these verses are not just for Jesus. They are for us too. Yes, Jesus was talking about His death on the cross here, but the Lord also speaks to His followers about taking up our cross. We know this is extremely important, because the Lord mentioned it four times in the New Testament (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Mark 10:21, Luke 9:23). For example, Mark 8:34 tells us that when Jesus had called the people to Him, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

*We know that the cross was an instrument of death. The only reason to take up a cross was to die. And down through the ages millions of Christians have died for the Lord. But here Jesus was not necessarily talking about physically dying for Him. He was talking about dying to self. It's the same idea Jesus had in Luke 9:23, when He said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

*So here is one of the great paradoxes of Christian life: We have to start dying to live. The only way we can really live is to die to our own selfishness, and let Jesus live His life through us. The only reason we can do it at all is because as believers we have been crucified with Christ. But as long as we are in this body, our old, selfish, sinful nature can rise up in us, so we have to take up our cross daily and follow Him.

*Verse 25 naturally follows then where Jesus said, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." This does not mean that we absolutely hate our life, because it's a gift from God! And with all of our problems, we have been blessed beyond measure. But we should certainly hate our sin and the selfishness in our lives. We also know that our eternal life is so much better by comparison, it’s as if we do hate our earthly life.

3. AND GOD WANTS US TO SEE THE ESSENTIAL DEATHS IN THIS SCRIPTURE. HE ALSO WANTS US TO SEE THE ESSENTIAL DEVOTION.

*It's the devotion we find in vs. 26 where Jesus said, "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

[1] NOTICE THAT THIS DEVOTION KEEPS US CLOSE TO CHRIST.

*That's in the first part of vs. 26, where again, Jesus said, "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also." The wonderful truth here is that we can follow Jesus anywhere, knowing that wherever He leads us is the best place we can be. And why? -- Because we will be with Him!

*God wants us to be close to Him. Many Scriptures make this truth clear. For example, James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." God wants us to be close to Him, and we can be as close to God as we want to be. Remember the Old Testament phrase that helps us know how close we can get to God: It's "the apple of God's eye."

*Deuteronomy 32:9-10 says, "The LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye." Then in Psalm 17:8, King David prayed these words, "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings."

*"Keep me as the apple of Your eye" Eddie Snipes tells us that the word picture is for someone to be so close to you, that you can look into their eyes and see your own reflection. That's how close God wants us to be to Him. And we can be as close to God as we want to be, because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. (4)

*But how do we draw close to Him?

-By receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior, by keeping our focus on the Lord

-By fellowshipping with Him through Scripture and prayer

-By drawing closer to Him in trust and love like a little child runs to a loving father

-And by following the Lord. As Jesus said in vs. 26, "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also."

[2] THIS KIND OF DEVOTION KEEPS US CLOSE TO CHRIST, AND IT BRINGS US HONOR FROM HEAVEN.

*This truth is in the last part of vs. 26, where Jesus said, "If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor." It reminds me of what the Lord said in Matthew 25:21, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."

CONCLUSION:

*That's the kind of thing we want to hear God say! And we will, if we will follow Jesus as closely as we can. Please think about these most essential things as we go back to God in prayer.

(1) https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html

(2) Adapted from EXPLORING THE GOSPELS: JOHN by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Visit of the Greeks" - John 12:20-26

(3) "Give Thanks" by Henry Smith - copyrighted in 1978 by Integrity's Hosanna! Music - recorded by Don Moen - released in 1986 by Integrity, Hosanna! Music, and Sparrow

(4) Adapted from SermonCentral Sermon "Step One - Our Relationship with God" by Eddie Snipes - Psalm 36:7-10